[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 02:30 GMT]
A 5-month-old child and a 25-year-old male were killed and 13 other refugees including three children were wounded Wednesday when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets bombed refugee settlements in Vaddakkachchi four times, on each sorties bombing the refugees twice. The SLAF bombardment on civilian targets comes in the wake of high casualties to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in its latest offensive push in Ki'linochchi and Jaffna frontiers. The second attack was reported 250 meters near the hospital in Vaddakkachchi. Civilians in Vanni interpreted the indiscriminate attacks, which were repeatedly carried out on displaced peoples settlements, as 'collective punishment' by the Sri Lankan forces that have suffered heavy casualties in the battlefront.
Medical sources identified the 5-month-old child killed in the indiscriminate bombardment on refugee settlement as Rajithan Ravishankar. The male killed in the bombardment was identified as Jeyasundraram Selvaratnam.
The first attack took place at 7:30 a.m. on Hudson Road in Vaddakkachchi. Two children were wounded in the second attack near the hospital in Vaddakkachchi at 10:00 a.m. One child, 10-year-old Midhushan Sriranjan had his leg amputated at the hospital and his 8-year-old sister Sinthuja Sriranjan was seriously wounded in her stomach.
Medical sources at Tharmapuram hospital identified the other civilians wounded in the bombardments as Joseph Dharmadevi, 15, Nallathambi Nandakumar, 44, Mahendran Ravishankar, 36, Yogarasa Yogeswaran, 30, Ravishankar Sujanidhi, 28, Raja Mahendran, 59, Sinnaththambi Luxmy, 57, Satkunanathan Nandhini, 21, Balasubramaniam Thangamalar, 55, and Karan, 32.
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has also intensified artillery attacks targeting civilian settlements in Vaddakkachchi, Oddisuddaan and Mu'l'liyava'lai in the south of Mullaiththeevu district in the recent days.
On Monday, artillery shells hit Mullaiththeevu General hospital, causing minor injuries to two patients, according to Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. V. Shanmugarajah. Many patients and staff in a nearby ward narrowly escaped from the blast that destroyed part of the building and the medical equipment.
A 5-month-old child and a 25-year-old male were killed and 13 other refugees including three children were wounded Wednesday when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets bombed refugee settlements in Vaddakkachchi four times, on each sorties bombing the refugees twice. The SLAF bombardment on civilian targets comes in the wake of high casualties to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in its latest offensive push in Ki'linochchi and Jaffna frontiers. The second attack was reported 250 meters near the hospital in Vaddakkachchi. Civilians in Vanni interpreted the indiscriminate attacks, which were repeatedly carried out on displaced peoples settlements, as 'collective punishment' by the Sri Lankan forces that have suffered heavy casualties in the battlefront.
5-month-old child, Rajithan Ravishankar killed in the SLAF bombardment in Vaddakkachchi.
Medical sources identified the 5-month-old child killed in the indiscriminate bombardment on refugee settlement as Rajithan Ravishankar. The male killed in the bombardment was identified as Jeyasundraram Selvaratnam.
The first attack took place at 7:30 a.m. on Hudson Road in Vaddakkachchi. Two children were wounded in the second attack near the hospital in Vaddakkachchi at 10:00 a.m. One child, 10-year-old Midhushan Sriranjan had his leg amputated at the hospital and his 8-year-old sister Sinthuja Sriranjan was seriously wounded in her stomach.
Medical sources at Tharmapuram hospital identified the other civilians wounded in the bombardments as Joseph Dharmadevi, 15, Nallathambi Nandakumar, 44, Mahendran Ravishankar, 36, Yogarasa Yogeswaran, 30, Ravishankar Sujanidhi, 28, Raja Mahendran, 59, Sinnaththambi Luxmy, 57, Satkunanathan Nandhini, 21, Balasubramaniam Thangamalar, 55, and Karan, 32.
25-year-old male, Jeyasundraram Selvaratnam was killed in the SLAF bombardment.
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has also intensified artillery attacks targeting civilian settlements in Vaddakkachchi, Oddisuddaan and Mu'l'liyava'lai in the south of Mullaiththeevu district in the recent days.
On Monday, artillery shells hit Mullaiththeevu General hospital, causing minor injuries to two patients, according to Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. V. Shanmugarajah. Many patients and staff in a nearby ward narrowly escaped from the blast that destroyed part of the building and the medical equipment.
